Haunted Castle on Hallow's Eve - Mary Pope Osborne [1]
[1. Haunted Houses—Fiction. 2. Castles—Fiction. 3. Ravens—Fiction.
4. Halloween—Fiction. 5. Time travel—Fiction. 6. Magic—Fiction.
7. Tree houses—Fiction.] I. Murdocca, Sal, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.081167Hat 2003 [Fic]—dc21 2002156313
v3.0
For Will, the real magician
in the heart of the oak
Cover
Title Page
Dear Reader
Copyright
Dedication
1 All Hallows Eve
2 The Heart of the Oak
3 Rok
4 The Castle
5 Ghosts!
6 Merlin’s Diamond
7 One, Two, Three!
8 SPREE! SPREE!
9 A Piece of a Star
10 Where Is It?
11 Or Else!
12 A New Day
13 Jack and Annie’s Magic
A Note from the Author
Special Preview of Magic Tree House #31: Summer of the Sea Serpent
The hearth is cold in the lonely hall,
No banquet decks the board;
No page stands ready at the call,
To ’tend his wearied lord.
From “Earl Desmond and the Banshee”
—Anonymous
“Maybe I should be a vampire instead of a princess,” said Annie.
She and Jack were sitting on their front porch. A cool breeze rustled the trees. Autumn
leaves twirled to the ground.
“But you already have your princess costume,” said Jack. “Besides, you were a vampire last Halloween.”
“I know, but I want to wear my big teeth again,” said Annie.
“So wear your big teeth and be a vampire-princess,” said Jack. He stood up. “I’m going to go put on my ghoul makeup now.”
KRAW!
“Oh, man!” said Jack.
A giant black bird swooped down to the ground. The bird strutted through the fallen leaves. Its feathers glistened in the golden afternoon light.
“Wow, is that a crow?” asked Annie.
“It’s too big for a crow,” said Jack. “I think it might be a raven.”
“A raven?” said Annie. “Cool.”
The raven lifted its sleek head and stared at them with bright eyes. Jack held his breath.
The bird hopped forward. It flapped its great black wings and lifted into the air. Then he glided into the autumn sky and headed toward the Frog Creek woods.
Annie jumped up. “It’s a sign! Morgan’s back!” she said.
“I think you’re right!” said Jack. “Let’s go!”
Jack and Annie hurried across their front yard, crunching through the leaves. They ran up their street and into the Frog Creek woods.
When they came to the tallest oak, they saw the rope ladder swaying in the wind. The magic tree house was waiting for them.
“Just as we thought,” Annie said, smiling.
Jack followed her up the ladder. When they climbed inside the tree house, they saw no sign of Morgan le Fay, the enchantress from the kingdom of Camelot.
“That’s weird,” said Jack, looking around.
The wind blew hard again, shaking the tree branches. A huge yellow leaf fluttered through the open window and came to rest at Jack’s feet.
“Oh, man,” he said. “Look at this.”
“What?” said Annie.
Jack picked up the leaf. There was writing on it. The letters were curvy and old-fashioned.
“Wow,” whispered Annie. “What does it say?”
Jack held the leaf up to the tree house window. In the fading light, he read aloud:
“M!” said Annie. “Morgan never signs her messages with M. …”
“Right …,” said Jack. “But …”
“Merlin does!” they said together.
“Like when he sent us the invitation to spend Christmas in Camelot,” said Annie. She pointed to the Royal Invitation that still lay in the corner of the tree house.
“Now he’s inviting us on Halloween!” said Jack. “Halloween was called ‘All Hallows Eve’ a long time ago.”
“I know,” said Annie. “We have to go!”
“Of course,” said Jack. There was no way they could turn down an invitation from the master magician of all time. “But how do we get there?”
“I’ll bet our invitation will take us,” said Annie, “like when we went to King Arthur’s castle on Christmas Eve.”
“Good idea,” said Jack. He pointed to the fancy writing on the leaf. “I wish we could go— uh—”
“To where this leaf invitation came from!” said Annie.
“Right!” said Jack.
The wind began to blow.
The tree house started to spin.
It spun faster and faster.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely still.
Jack opened his eyes. A chilly wind blew into the tree house. Oak leaves swirled outside the window.
“Look, we have our costumes,” said Annie. “I